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Messages Analyzed by the Federal Police Reveal Attempts by the Careca do INSS to Sell Cannabidiol and Dengue Tests to the Government.
Messages analyzed by the Federal Police reveal that the lobbyist Antônio Carlos Camilo Antunes, known as Careca do INSS, attempted to negotiate million-dollar contracts with the Ministry of Health for the supply of cannabidiol and dengue tests, without bidding, between 2024 and 2025.
Investigated in the billion-dollar scheme of social security fraud uncovered in 2025, Antunes sought to expand his activities to public health, although no purchases were made by the government.
Social Security Frauds Driven New Area of Activity
Investigations indicate that, after becoming a target of the Federal Police in the social security fraud case, the Careca do INSS began to target another strategic sector: health.
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According to an investigation by G1, WhatsApp messages seized by the Federal Police indicate an organized strategy to insert companies linked to the lobbyist in high-value public contracts.
Therefore, the Ministry of Health emerges as a new area of activity for the investigated group.
Thus, the negotiations involved cannabis-based medications, rapid dengue tests, and even children’s medications, always with amounts considered to be in the millions.
Despite this, it is important to highlight that no acquisition was finalized by the federal agency.
Contact with the Ministry of Health Did Not Result in Contracts
The messages reveal that Antunes was received at least once by representatives of the Ministry of Health in January 2024.
However, the meeting did not lead to the signing of contracts or the formalization of public purchases.
Still, the Federal Police assesses that the institutional contact was part of an attempt to pave the way for future negotiations.
According to investigators, the strategy included the preparation of technical documents and ready reference terms to justify emergency purchases.
So in the meantime, the absence of bidding appears as a sensitive point in all the analyzed negotiations.
Supreme Court Sees Ministry of Health as Possible New Target of the Scheme
The advance of investigations led the Supreme Federal Court to express itself.
In a decision rendered in the most recent phase of the operation, in December, Minister André Mendonça stated that the Ministry of Health emerged as “a new possible area of activity for the criminal organization.”
Moreover, the magistrate determined that the National Health Surveillance Agency investigate administratively “any irregularities” involving public servants.
Thus, the measure broadened the scope of investigations beyond the social security core.
Cannabidiol Entered the Center of Negotiations
Among the companies linked to Antunes, one of them drew the investigators’ attention: World Cannabis.
Thus, the company operates in the commercialization of products derived from medicinal cannabis and stood out in the conversations analyzed by the Federal Police.
In December 2024, messages exchanged between the Careca do INSS and his employees discussed the review of Resolution No. 327 of Anvisa, which regulates the manufacture and importation of cannabis-based products in Brazil.
During the same period, the group shared a draft of a Reference Term that foresaw the purchase, by the Ministry of Health, of 1.2 million bottles of cannabidiol, without the bidding process.
Dengue Tests Were Also on the Group’s Radar
At the beginning of 2025, messages show that the focus expanded. In addition to cannabidiol, the group began trying to enable the sale of dengue tests, amid the rise in cases of the disease in the country.
Like in the previous case, the team prepared a Reference Term anticipating the acquisition of rapid tests without bidding.
The strategy, according to the Federal Police, followed the same pattern: use of technical justifications to expedite public purchases.
However, once again, no contracts were finalized.
Federal Police Investigates Use of Funds Misappropriated from Pensions
One of the main lines of investigation points out that those involved misappropriated funds from social security frauds to finance bribes and structure front companies.
The Federal Police states that those involved created these companies to compete for public contracts, especially in the health sector.
So in the meantime, the analysis of the messages continues, and new avenues of investigation are not ruled out.
Thus, the Federal Police assesses whether there was an attempt to influence public servants and whether other federal agencies were also targeted by the maneuvers.
See more at: Careca do INSS Tried to Sell Products to the Ministry of Health
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